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Holbox, Mexico, is a tiny, remote island north of the Yucatan Peninsula. Its residents traditionally subsisted by fishing, though once the supply of fish in the area began to dwindle, they looked for another source of income. They realized that the whale sharks that populate the area would be a huge draw to tourists. They have successfully converted their economy to ecotourism and are now protecting the world’s biggest fish, the whale shark. Whale Sharks of Holbox was made pursuant to a grant filmmaker Michael Wham received from the Save our Seas Foundation, was a finalist in the Moving Pictures Magazine Short Film Contest, and is featured on the Moving Pictures Magazine Best of 2006 DVD.
Filmmaker Bio
Michael Wham is a 17-year-old homeschooled 11th grader from the Woodlands, TX. He has been interested in filmmaking since first grade, made his first documentary when he was seven, and began to enter film festivals when he was in eighth grade, at which time he placed first in the junior high category at Houston Young Movie Makers. Since then, his films have been selections of or have won awards at dozens of festivals. Penguins of Antarctica was an official selection of the Kid’s First Film Festival and was screened along with March of the Penguins as part of the Penguin Film Festival at the New York Hall of Science. Perilous Progress, about the endangered red-backed squirrel monkeys of Costa Rica, won the youth division at the International Wildlife Film Festival in 2006 and was a selection of the 1st Annual Student Environmental Short Film Festival. Michael will be discussing and screening Whale Sharks of Holbox at the Talent of Tomorrow Showcase of the Asia Wildlife Film Festival in March. He will also be a panelist at the International Wildlife Film Festival in Montana this May.